John Soper
Sep-16-2004, 2:36pm
So, they're reviving the Watermelon Park Music Festival near Berryville, VA the first weekend of October. #A friend plays in a traditional jazz/swing/dance band (Shenendoah Shieks) which will not be able to get their keyboards, drummer, or trombone players for the gig & I was asked to sit in on mandolin & lapslide... The other members will be acoustic bass, one or two guitars (one doubles on trumpet), sax, 46,xx (female) vocals, and another ringer who will play fiddle...
Partial set list includes:
Beseme Mucho
No Moon at All
Satin Doll
It Don't Mean a Thang (spelling for the BG'ers)
St. Louise Blues
St. James Infirmary
This Masquerade
All of Me
Out of Nowhere
...and for the fiddle player, Minor Swing (Amin)
I guess we'll get to practice the night before the gig- I've got the lead sheets for most of these & have been given the approximate tempos. #I've asked for a tape so's I can get a better feel for how the band meshes together. #Fortunately, I won't have to carry all the solos (cause I'm slow as mud)& haven't decided which songs I'm going to play mando on (might simplify things to just stick with mando for all, but I've played several of these on lapslide before). #
Any suggestions for playing rhythm mando for some of the more trad swing tunes? #I know a BG "chop" isn't going to cut it- 4 beats/bar like Freddie Green might be the simplest, but I figure there should be some rhythmic function to the mando that doesn't compete with the bass & rhythm guitar.
At the very least, I know I'll be figuring out different inversions over the next few weeks- mostly chordal extensions without root?
Or, given that the majority of the audience will be BG'ers, would it be best to borrow a square-neck national tricone, so that I can have something to hide behind when the BG police starts throwing chairs? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
Any advice would be welcome.
John Soper
Partial set list includes:
Beseme Mucho
No Moon at All
Satin Doll
It Don't Mean a Thang (spelling for the BG'ers)
St. Louise Blues
St. James Infirmary
This Masquerade
All of Me
Out of Nowhere
...and for the fiddle player, Minor Swing (Amin)
I guess we'll get to practice the night before the gig- I've got the lead sheets for most of these & have been given the approximate tempos. #I've asked for a tape so's I can get a better feel for how the band meshes together. #Fortunately, I won't have to carry all the solos (cause I'm slow as mud)& haven't decided which songs I'm going to play mando on (might simplify things to just stick with mando for all, but I've played several of these on lapslide before). #
Any suggestions for playing rhythm mando for some of the more trad swing tunes? #I know a BG "chop" isn't going to cut it- 4 beats/bar like Freddie Green might be the simplest, but I figure there should be some rhythmic function to the mando that doesn't compete with the bass & rhythm guitar.
At the very least, I know I'll be figuring out different inversions over the next few weeks- mostly chordal extensions without root?
Or, given that the majority of the audience will be BG'ers, would it be best to borrow a square-neck national tricone, so that I can have something to hide behind when the BG police starts throwing chairs? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
Any advice would be welcome.
John Soper